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You Can’t Park a Voucher in the Garage

About 900 customers who ordered a 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat or Charger Hellcat and never received their 707-hp muscle car will have to get back in line.

Late last month, Dodge cancelled unfilled orders, because dealers accepted more orders than the factory could fill. One dealer alone took deposits on about 200 Hellcat orders, knowing full well it would never receive so many of the limited-run cars.

All is not lost for the customers who had their orders cancelled, though. They will receive a voucher that allows them to buy the more-expensive 2016 version at the 2015 price. That won’t satisfy the people who were hoping to get a first-run 2015 car, which could increase in value as it becomes a collectible.

For customers who aren’t stuck on the Hellcat brand, there’s a deal on a certain 850-horsepower Super Snake that is available now.

Based on a Ford Mustang GT, the Super Snake package adds a whopping supercharger, some bodywork upgrades and a wealth of suspension and exhaust tunings. It really is a totally new car, and while the basic Super Snake arrives with 750 horsepower, to get your free leather you’ll need to option the 850-hp upgrade.

The total cost for the conversion alone is somewhere around $54,000, not including the $32,000 or so needed to acquire a 2015 Mustang GT. That’s close to $90,000, compared with the $58,000 MSRP for a Challenger Hellcat.

Even with the free seat upgrade, I’m thinking Shelby won’t get many takers.

“(Buyers) now have the chance to buy the car that would have likely left their Hellcat at the last traffic light,” says Gary Schechner, Shelby American VP of Marketing. “And now they’ll be able to do it from the more comfortable seats of their Shelby Super Snake.”

People who buy cars with 707 hp tend to either be collectors or the type of people who want the fastest car on the road, so Shelby may have a shot at converting some buyers with that argument.

Would you get an 850-hp Shelby Super Snake in place of the 707-hp Hellcat?